The present invention relates to foldable support structures for holding items, such as pots of flowers, bottles and flexible bags in position therein.
The present invention is directed to an open top and open bottom support structure for retaining the contents thereof in location. The present invention is very useful for holding items such as pots of flowers and bottles in position and is particularly useful in holding already-filled bags in position therein. The support structure of the present invention finds particular utility in supporting such items as pots of flowers, bottles or filled grocery bags during transport in, for example, a car trunk. Transporting items such as filled grocery bags or pots of flowers in the trunk of a car, for example, presents the problem of the bags falling over spilling the contents. In transporting filled bottles, when the bottles fall over, they can roll around creating a problem particularly in the event the bottles are filled with a carbonated beverage. This is particularly true of the soft, thin film plastic grocery bags that are now so popular.
Bag supports and the like are, per se, known. Examples of such known bag supports are shown in the following patents.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,895,904 issued on Jan. 31, 1933 is directed to a rigid wire frame of a suitable size to be placed in a kitchen sink or drainboard for supporting having loops formed at the top ends of the upright members of the frame to engage the lip of the side walls of a paper to hold the empty bag upright and open while the bag is filled with garbage.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,600,4398 issued on Jun. 17, 1952 is directed to a rigid wire frame for holding a cloth laundry bag. The top ends of the upright members of the frame have hooks which are received in eyes formed in the walls of the laundry bag around the bag opening to hold the bag in place in the frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,669,351 issued on Feb. 16, 1954 is directed to a corrugated paper container having, for example, two compartments for containing pouches of liquid. The container has a peripheral side wall, a portion dividing the interior into compartments, a bottom wall and a top wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,539,360 issued on Nov. 10, 1970 is directed to a conventional fiberboard carton having side walls, bottom wall and closable top wall for holding a filled plastic bag therein. Adhesive is located on the carton side wall for securing the bag in the carton.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,280,676 issued on Jul. 28, 1981 is directed to a generally truncated, conically-shaped support constructed of a sheet of plastic for holding a flexible bag open to aid in filling the bag with, for example, garbage. The peripheral top lip surrounding the top opening of the support is formed with a peripheral downwardly facing hook member over which the open mouth of the bag is folded to engage the hook member.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,457,483 issued on Jul. 3, 1984 is directed to a cylindrically-shaped support fabricated of a sheet of plastic. The sheet of plastic material is held in cylindrical shape by means of knobs formed along one vertical edge of the plastic sheet which engage openings formed along the other vertical edge of the plastic sheet. Tabs receive the lip of a bag to hold the bag in the cylindrical support. To store the cylindrical support, the knobs are disengaged from the openings and the sheet of plastic is tightly rolled to form a cylinder of smaller circumference than it was in the bag-holding configuration.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,705,246 issued on Nov. 10, 1987 is directed to a framework structure for holding a bag open while it is filled with debris such as leaves or grass clippings. The framework is adapted to be laid on its side so that the bag held therein is also laid on its side in an open configuration so that leaves and the like can be swept into the bag.
The above-mentioned support structures have numerous drawbacks, which are solved by the present invention.